Creamy Wild Mushroom Rice Soup

And Soup Week continues! It also ends with this delicious creamy mushroom rice soup. I guess since I only post 2-3 recipes each week, theme weeks are not very epic around here, huh? Theme months would be way too much I think, but maybe I’ll start doing theme fortnights in the future. (Yes, I said fortnight. I’m fancy like that.)

Having grown up in the midwest, I can tell you this: Midwesterners like their food creamy. We love cheesy casseroles, anything made with canned soup, and all kinds of concoctions made with sour cream, mayo, and/or cheese sauce (usually and, not or). Being sick last week, I was craving comfort food and to me, comfort food is creamy food. So I set out to make a vegetarian version of the classic Creamy Wild Rice & Chicken Soup. And then, because it’s the New Year and I’m trying to watch what I eat, I set out to make a lighter version. Behold, Creamy Wild Mushroom Rice Soup.

The biggest obstacle was figuring out what to replace the chicken with. I’m always hesitant to cook with seitan on my blog because I don’t know if that’s readily available everywhere. And tofu in a creamy soup? That seemed kind of icky. So I went with adding extra mushrooms. I know, a lot of you hate mushrooms. You can use something else in your soup then!

I adapted my Creamy Wild Mushroom Rice Soup from this Cream of Turkey & Wild Rice soup from Eating Well. Instead of adding heavy cream or half-and-half, they used sour cream to thicken the broth. I love this method of making creamy soups–it adds creaminess without a lot of fat or calories. It also adds a little tanginess. My husband was on the fence about this, but I really like it. So be warned–if you’re ambivalent about sour cream, you might want to stick with adding whole milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream instead.

This Creamy Wild Mushroom Rice Soup was exactly what I needed when I was feeling sick. It reminded me of home, of chilly winters, of snow soaking through my boots and numb toes–okay, maybe I don’t miss everything about the Midwest. But it did remind me of the food I grew up on. Total comfort food.

Add broth to Dutch oven and bring to a boil. If you’re using instant rice, add it now and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until rice is tender, 5-7 minutes, then stir in sour cream and parsley.

Notes

If you’d like to use non-instant wild rice, cook 1 cup according to the package instructions and stir it into the soup at the end of cooking time.

Laura

October 13, 2016 at 1:03 am

Minnesota native here- you can buy wild rice directly from the Native American communities online. I just bought mine from the white earth tribe! A little extra money but this rice is so much better quality, and the money goes to those harvesting sustainably! This recipe looks perfect, I can’t wait to try it!! Thank you so much!

Molly

March 17, 2014 at 10:13 pm

Thanks for your quick response. I have some wonderful wild rice from the gas station near my grandmother’s house in N. Minnesota (3lbs for $10!) that I transported all the way to British Columbia in my suitcase. My approach given your recipe revision will be to cook 1 cup of dried rice in my rice cooker and add that to the soup at the end. Very excited to see this recipe because I have been vegetarian for about 17 years, but still remember my Minnesota born mother’s creamy wild rice chicken soup from childhood.

I think the last wild rice I bought was $5 for a tiny little box. I guess I will have to stock up if I ever find myself in Minnesota! Cooking 1 cup of wild rice in advance and stirring it in at the end of cooking time will work perfectly. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

I haven’t tried freezing it; I do know that dairy can sometimes be a little finicky when frozen & thawed, so you might want to freeze it minus the sour cream and add that in after reheating, just to be on the safe side.

stacey

November 19, 2015 at 7:41 am

It does freeze. The sour cream separates from its water. So upon defrost it looks God awful. But as long as you stir it regularly during reheat it all incorporates back together nicely and tastes great.

Alanna

I haven’t used red wine in this particular recipe, but I do like red wine with mushrooms and pair the two often in other recipes. If you use a dry red wine, yes, the flavor would be different, but I think it will still be good. Just avoid using a sweet red wine!

Frankie Knowler

Rebekka

March 14, 2015 at 10:34 am

I wasn’t paying close enough attention at the store and got a wild rice blend which also had brown rice instead of just wild rice. The result was a very creamy soup with no sour cream needed! Its that easy to make it vegan and still taste great!

I want to try this recipe out to add to my weekly lunch menu, specially when i want a little warm soup in my tummy. I was wondering could I substitute the all purpose flour with another type? garbanzoflour, almond four? Thank you love your site!

I don’t eat gluten-free, so I’ve never tried substituting GF flour for regular in a recipe like this. If you’ve had success with a certain type of GF flour for thickening sauces and gravies, I’d use that one here. Cornstarch may work as well.

Jaya

Monica

December 3, 2015 at 11:54 am

This was awesome! I had to make a few substitutes based on what I had at home but I think the essentials were still there. I used onion instead of shallot, a wild rice blend, and some plain yogurt in place of the sour cream. I was a huge bowl of comfort food! Just what i needed!

Jack

Allie

February 6, 2018 at 8:52 pm

Very quick, easy, and delicious! I only had half the amount of mushrooms as the recipe calls for, but it turned out great! I served it homemade garlic bread, which paired well! Will definitely be making this recipe again!